From scrappy startup to rising soy star
Over time, WhiteWave expanded from a tiny retail deli to a good-sized manufacturing facility. Our growth was characterized by plateaus and valleys marking the struggles of a small, undercapitalized business with a big idea—and an equally formidable learning curve.
Our big break came in 1978 when a supermarket chain signed on to carry our goods. Initially all things soy were parked in the produce section, where temperatures weren’t ideal. But before long, Silk soymilk—in plain, honey-sweetened and carob-maple flavors—migrated to the refrigerated case, right next to dairy milk.